Easing the Burden
by dogsrock101
Summary: "He was faced with a familiar sight: the tactician's back as she was hunched over on the table, scribbling furiously on something. Of course she would be working, even on a day like this." It's Valentine's Day, and Eliwood tries to convince the tactician to take a break.


"For the lovely Rebecca," Sain said, handing her a bright yellow flower, a charming smile on his lips, "a beautiful wildflower."

"Gee, thanks, Sain," she said half-heartedly, taking the flower and eying it warily, as if it would grow fangs and bite her.

"When I saw that flower, I knew it had to be for you. For you are so much like a wildflower, lovely Rebecca; fierce and strong, untamed and free—eh?"  
Rebecca had slipped away while Sain had been busy making grand gestures about her, and when he had finally opened his eyes to see her sparkling expression, she was gone.

He sighed melodramatically. Indeed, she truly was a wildflower, going wherever the wind blew her. Thankfully, though, not all the females in the camp were wildflowers. With a renewed grin, Sain bounded toward the beautiful Princess Priscilla, intent on handing her a forget-me-not…

Eliwood smiled to himself and shook his head as he passed by Sain. The Cavalier had pranced about all day, offering all the ladies of the camp flowers. It was nice, Eliwood supposed, and most definitely very Sain-like. Although not all of the women appreciated his…generosity (Serra had complained about not getting enough flowers, Farina had asked for gold in exchange, and Vaida had plucked the petals off her flower one by one, right in front of the poor fellow's face), nothing appeared to dampen the knight's spirits.

A moment of apprehension struck Eliwood as he self-consciously looked down at the flower in his hand. Would she think that, like Sain, Eliwood had given flowers to everybody, and that she wasn't as special as he believed her to be? Would she reject him, thinking that all he wanted to do was climb into her bed? ("That _is_ the point, isn't it?" Hector had joked).

Eliwood shook his head. He knew she wouldn't do that; she was too kind. She'd accepted Sain's flower, no matter how embarrassed she'd been; of course she would accept his! With a renewed sense of confidence, Eliwood strode purposely toward the tactician's tent.

"Aurora?" he called out softly once he stopped in front of her tent.

He waited for a response, but received none. He called her name again, louder, but to no avail. He frowned. He was quite certain that she was in her tent, since he hadn't seen her around camp. He drew back the tent flap ever so slightly to take a peek inside.

He was faced with a familiar sight: the tactician's back as she was hunched over on the table, scribbling furiously on something. Maps and parchment were strewn about the large table as the candle burned away to illuminate her work area.

Eliwood chuckled quietly and smiled to himself. Of course she would be working, even on a day like this.

He took a moment to watch her silently before he decided to make himself known; if he didn't, it would be hours before she noticed.

"Aurora," he said gently, so as to not frighten her.

Even though his voice was quiet, it still surprised her. She jumped up in her chair and swiveled around to face him. Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth dropped. Hastily, she made to move.

"L-Lord Eliwood!" she squeaked, blood rushing to her cheeks (Eliwood noted that one of them was smudged with ink), "How long have you—?"

She tripped over her chair but managed to stay on her feet. Her face turned even pinker.

"Are you alright?" Eliwood asked, trying not to smile, as he reached a hand out toward her.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, ducking her head.

"My apologies," he said, "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"That's alright," she replied quietly, glancing up at him, "you just...took me by surprise."

"You didn't hear me call your name three times?" He smiled.

She flushed red. "Y-you did, my lord? Oh, I'm so sorry! I supposed I must not have heard...! You know how I can get sometimes..." She looked away, embarrassed.

He chuckled softly. "It's alright, Aurora. I know how you can get caught up in your work." He paused. "But, you know that it's okay to take a break every once in a while, right? You know how much I, along with Lyndis and Hector and the rest of our army, appreciate the effort and dedication in your work, but...sometimes you need to take a day off and enjoy yourself."

"That's kind of you to say, Lord Eliwood," she replied, "but..." He was mildly surprised that she was arguing with him. She appeared to do it with difficulty, too, fidgeting with her fingers and nervously biting down on her lip. "I need to do this for you." Her face flushed a bright red as she realized what her words meant. She looked up at him with wide, alarmed eyes. "I-I mean, for everybody!" she added hastily. "I mean..." She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. Her muscles relaxed and when she opened her eyes, she didn't look as nervous as she did before. "I have to make sure that everything's perfect before we set foot on a battlefield. It's my responsibility—as a tactician—to ensure everybody's safety. And if one little thing is out of line"—She grabbed a long piece of parchment that appeared to be a list of their inventory—"even if we're just a single healing staff short, everything can go wrong."

She let out a long and surprisingly heavy sigh, as if tired and burdened.

Eliwood stepped closer toward her, his eyebrows crinkled in concern. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" he asked quietly.

She looked confused. "My lord?"

"About all this pressure you're feeling," he clarified. "It's not right for you to burden all this weight."

She was surprised. "But, my lord," she replied, "it's my job."

He frowned. "You're our tactician, Aurora, not our servant." Her eyebrows rose. "You do know that, don't you?"

"Whatever do you—?"

"You needn't burden yourself with all this responsibility," he said gently, placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "We work together, as a team. I'd always thought that that's what we'd been doing, all those nights we came in to discuss the next day's plans, but clearly that's not enough."

She looked appalled. "There's no need for that!" she argued, shaking her head. "What you and Lord Hector and Lyn are doing is just fine—"

"It's not," Eliwood cut in smoothly. "It's also our responsibility, as leaders of this army, to make sure that everything goes according to plan. It's unfair to place all this burden on you; we need to equally share the responsibility."

"It's not a burden," she argued quietly, "it's just my job as a tactician."

Eliwood pinched the bridge of his nose. How was he going to talk sense into her if she was always talking down to herself? "Aurora," he said softly, "how are you going to be able to take care of the army if you've barely any time to take care of yourself?"

She bristled. "What do you mean, my lord?"

"I mean, look at this!" He gestured around himself; to the messy table, to the bedroll that had yet to be touched. "You don't even give yourself enough time to sleep!" It was true; there were often dark circles under the tactician's eyes, and the way she dragged herself out of the tent every morning indicated that she would've enjoyed more hours of sleep. "You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. What good will you be if you're half-asleep on the battlefield?"

She went silent for quite some time, and a twinge of guilt hit Eliwood as he wondered if he'd gone too far. But at the same time, he truly was concerned. It was simply unhealthy for her to live like this!

"Alright," she finally said, looking up at him and smiling, "you win, Lord Eliwood."

He smiled broadly. "Really?" he asked excitedly. "You'll let us help you?"

Her smile widened and she nodded.

"Oh, thank the heavens!" he cried out, a hand flying to his chest. Relief flooded through him. "Don't worry me like that!"

She laughed softly. "I'll try my best not to, my lord."

"Well," he said, sighing quietly, "I suppose I must apologize for having been so ignorant of your feelings and duties."

She shook her head vigorously. "There's no need to apologize!"

"Ah, but there is." He smiled, albeit a tad bitterly. "I have been too selfish to see what you're going through..."

"You mustn't belittle yourself so!" she admonished, much to his surprise. "You're always so busy making sure that everybody in this army is doing well and you're always being so kind and helping out wherever and whenever you can..." Her chest was heaving in exertion and her cheeks were flushed pink. It was the first time he'd ever seen her rant as she did. "You're the most selfless person I know!"

Eliwood threw back his head and laughed. Aurora jumped, surprised. "That's funny, because _you're_ the most selfless person I know!" He grinned at her. "You always put others before yourself, and you're always considerate of others feelings, and you ensure another's safety before your own!"

She blushed. "You are too kind, my lord," she mumbled, embarrassed.

"And you're too modest."

She gasped. "I-I am not!"

"Aha!" he cried out, laughing, as he pointed accusingly at her. She seemed flustered, but also very amused. "That's proof right there!"

She shook her head and giggled. "Is there any point in arguing with you, my lord?"

He grinned, shaking his head. "I think not. So you might as well give up."

"...Alright," she said, smiling softly. "Though you do have quite the unfair advantage over me."

He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation before she spoke. "I could never say no to you." Her cheeks flushed a deep red at the audacity of her words, and she quickly averted her eyes to the ground.

Eliwood felt a tingling sensation in his chest that he couldn't quite describe. All he knew was that he liked it. Very, very much. "Well," he said softly, knowing that it would be no good to tease her, embarrassed as she was, "that's reassuring." She looked up at him questioningly. "That means you'll _have _to accept this."

He extended his hand out toward her. She gasped quietly, her hand flying to her chest. The flower in he held in his hand was a beautiful, light pink rose. Feelings welled up in her chest and rendered her speechless. It was many moments before she finally spoke.

"For...for me, my lord?" She sounded as if she simply couldn't believe it.

"Yes," he replied softly, watching her reaction. She looked touched at his simple response, and shifted her eyes back to the rose. Gingerly she took it from his hand and brought it, hesitantly, to her nose. She took in a deep breath, her eyes fluttering shut, to take in its floral and earthy scent.

"Lord Eliwood..." she said quietly. She seemed to have trouble speaking, overwhelmed by emotions as she was. "You shouldn't have."

"I wanted to," he argued softly. "This is the least I could do for you."

"...Thank you," she whispered, sounding and looking truly touched.

"You're welcome," he replied, genuinely happy that she enjoyed it, "though I'm not sure it's quite as nice as the one Sain offered you..."

She laughed, taken by surprise. "They're both equally lovely," she said, clearly not wishing to hurt Sain's feelings, despite the fact that he wasn't around to hear. "But...I must say...this one speaks to me more." She paused. "...What's the occasion?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"What's the flower for? I was wondering why Sain was giving everyone flowers too..."

She truly didn't know? "Err...it's Valentine's Day today."

Her mouth fell open. "R-really?" She suddenly flushed red. "That makes quite a lot of sense..."

"I think this proves that you've been working too much," he reprimanded softly, smiling slightly.

"I suppose it does," she admitted. She hesitated, frowning. "But...I haven't gotten you anything!"

He smiled warmly. "You don't need to. It's enough seeing you smile." She blushed hard. "Besides, it truly is the least I could do..."

"...Still," she mumbled, "you deserve something as well." He opened her mouth to protest, but she shook her head to silence him.

She took a step toward him, closing the small distance between them. He eyed her in confusion, wondering what was going in that tactical mind of hers. Her cheeks and lips were flushed, and the fingers holding the flower were trembling.

"Aurora...?"

She went on her tip-toes and gave him a small, tender kiss on the cheek. He froze, his mind going completely blank. She quickly backed away, her ears and neck beginning to turn as red as her face. Once his senses came back to him, Eliwood placed a hand against his cheek, feeling the warmth of her lips still lingering there, and turned an outrageous shade of red. It was difficult to tell who was redder at this point.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Lord Eliwood," she whispered, still blushing hard.

It took him a moment to find his voice. "Happy Valentine's Day." He paused. "Thank you for the...err...present." He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so tongue-tied.

"Y-you're welcome," she squeaked. "Th-thank you for the flower..."

"You're welcome..." A moment of silence passed. "I...guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Um...yes," she murmured, "Good night."

"Good night." He paused, about to turn around, but thought better of it. He took her hand, and placed a gentle kiss on it. "Sweet dreams, Aurora."

She seemed flustered and at a loss of words, so she merely smiled and nodded. He smiled back and briefly placed a hand against her cheek before turning around to retire to his tent.

And sweet dreams she would have indeed that night, dreams of her and a certain redhead with a fairytale ending...

* * *

_Not really sure how I feel about the ending, but it was going to go on and on if I didn't cut it off at that point. _

_You know, there really AREN'T that many Eliwood X FemTactician fanfics. I mean, there aren't too many Hector X FemTactician ones either, but I'm pretty sure there's more than Eliwood. Maybe because so many people just ship Eliwood and Ninian? I mean, I do too, but I also can see some potential with Eliwood and a tactician, seeing as how he's leader of the army and whatnot..._

_Well, anywho, Happy Valentine's Day everybody! Hope everybody's enjoyed their chocolate! _


End file.
